Bibliographic note

Early Career Researcher. This research investigates the collaborative relationship between Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai and the local film star Leslie Cheung. Beginning with an analysis of the films themselves, it develops understanding of the films within their broader cultural context. The essay lays out the chief characteristics of Cheung's star image, as these have been defined and crystallised across distinct film and media texts to analyse Wong's interface with this pre-established persona. It argues that Cheung's star image is absorbed into the filmmaker's wider strategies of generic subversion and unpredictability and seeks to link the pair's collaboration with the broader commmentary on pre-1997 Hong Kong culture and society. The contribution made through this essay is threefold: first, in respect of advancing a study of Chinese director/star texts, which though routinely undertaken in relation to Hollywood auteurs (eg, Hitchcock/Stewart, Von Sternberg/Dietreich) has generally been ignored in work on Asian film; second, in respect of examining and characterising Leslie Cheung's star persona, which has received scant attention in the West, despite Cheung's pre-eminent status among Chinese film performers; third this essay provides a fresh perspective on Wong Kar-wai's films, since previous discussions of his work have tended to overlook his complex and sophisticated engagement with star players. RAE_import_type : Journal article RAE_uoa_type : LICA